UECLASSINEU Authority Statele Herah2. ML HR Cate 2498 would seem to indicate that they would not be unresponsive to a return to public life. Moreover, should the Picado Government veer sharply to the Right, Dr. Calderón. who will probably be remembered best for his social reforms. would be a natural rallying point for elements of the Left. With the se thoughts in mind, and remembering that Latin American history affords very few instances of an exruler maintaining harmonious relations with his hand picked successor, it is evident that the Picado Calderón relations cannot be anything but precarious. And, added to these observations is the complicating factor that René PICADO, certainly the most definite character in his brother cabinet if not the most tactful, has already indicated to the Embassy that he personally does not like the Calderón Guardias, and will tolerate no interference from them in the present Administration.
The chances of Picado receiving the continued support of Vanguardia Popular are easier to estimate, for Manuel MORA has stated again and again that his party is backing Picado with the sole objective of realizing their common program. As long as the President strives to carry out their agreed upon objectives he will be backed by Vanguardia Popular, certainly the best organized group in the country and almost as certainly the most unpopular. Should it become apparent, however, that Picado does not intend to implement his promises with action Mora will not hesitate to place his followers again in the role of an independent, antiAdministration minority.
Curiously enough, there has been little serious public discussion about the program itself, with most criticism following the line that the country has been turned over to the Communists. In the light of this frame of mind on the part of the opposition, it is interesting to note that the program is decidedly not a radical one, being composed for the most part of a combination of Nineteenth Century Liberalism and the type of social legislation which characterized the 1930 in the United States. Thus, for example, in the realm of agriculture the program calls for guaranteed prices to farmers for their produce, the establishment of cooperatives, the facilitating of credits, and the protection of tenant farmers. Industrially it seeks the fomenting of suitable native industries, easier credit for their establishment, and a more scientific tariff.
Financial desiderata include the reorganization of the budget and a revised tax structure. Politically, a civil service law is advocated, along with reform of electoral laws. And finally, in the field of education, the program contemplates more schools, financial aid to scholars of poor families, and better salaries for teachers.
While it is perhaps natural that the opposition does not eare to recognize the intrinsically moderate character of this platform, it is indeed extraordinary that no one has as yet commented on the fact that the program is in a great many respects exactly similar to that advocated by the Vanguardia bitterest enemy in Costa Rica, the Centro Para El Estudio De Problemas Nacionales. The former is insistent in its denunciation of the latter as a group of unenlightened reactionaries, and the Centro never tires of calling the Vanguardia wild eyed radicals, but a comparison of the concepts noted above with the program of the Centro as shown in the Embassy despatch No. 703 of October 20, 1943, will show that in actuality the two groups see eye to eye on a majority of counts.
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